Acorn Squash with Bean Salsa

In high school, I loved ordering soup in bread bowls. Not because I necessarily liked soup, in fact I am not really a huge fan of soup, but because I liked the idea that I could eat the container. For this reason, I love filling squash with cool ingredients– a healthier version of the bread bowl. Writing this recipe up, I realized that this fall I am sort of obsessed with acorn squash, since I have already done a recipe, Acorn Squash with Mushroom Barley. Also, I love roasting the squash seeds in olive oil and kosher salt. It is a great snack before the meal, to sprinkle on top of your squash, or on a salad. They are just like pumpkin seeds, since after all they are both squash! Ok, so I might be obsessed with each one of the ingredients in today’s recipe, so why not throw them all together?

Acorn Squash with Bean Salsa

2 acorn squash

acorn squash seeds

2 tb of olive oil divided

1/2 cup of black beans rinse and drained

1/2 cup of corn

1/2 cup of grape tomatoes quartered

1 red pepper chopped

1/2 cup of red onion chopped

1 tb cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tspn kosher salt

1/2 tspn oregano

1/4 tspn cayenne pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 400

Cut the acorn squash in half, shell out the seeds and threaded center. Place seeds in a colander, and wash away the extra squash. Line a pan with foil, stir the seeds with a little oil and salt. Place in the oven for 30 minutes.

Place the acorn squash in an ovensafe pan, rub olive oil on top of each half. Place in the oven for 40 minutes.

In a pot on the stove, saute the red pepper and onion in olive oil. Once the onions are a little soft, mix in the beans, corn, tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, and kosher salt. Saute on low for 8-10 minutes.

When the squash is ready, fill the hole with the bean/corn mixture. Top with the squash seeds.